Making a motion picture is a lot like dozens of people making soup. Everyone adds their own element to make the recipe work. When you are shooting on location, in a place like White Center that includes the local people and law enforcement.

Eden, an independent feature film being directed by Megan Griffiths, a Seattle based director is in the process with scenes being shot in White Center. Much of the film was shot in Eastern Washington over the last few weeks.

The film stars Beau Bridges (Max Payne, The Fabulous Baker Boys), Matt O'Leary (Brick, Live Free or Die Hard), and Jamie Chung (Sucker Punch, Hangover part II, Grown Ups). It was not disclosed exactly who is here in White Center and it was requested that no photos be taken of the actors, or vehicles being used in the film.

Set in the southwest in the mid 1990's the film tells the true story of a domestic human trafficking survivor. Colin Harper Plank, the film's co-producer (along with Jacob Mosler) said, "It's the memoir of a Korean-American woman who was brought here and held in Las Vegas, that covers a 2 year period. The screenplay was written by Rick Phillips and the director Megan Griffiths. Chong Kim is the woman who told the story to Rick Phillips. He heard about her story in a Korean newspaper and contacted her about getting the story made into a film.

Getting a film made, especially an independent film, is always expensive but, "the relative cost of film making has come down thanks to video," said Plank and he acknowledged the fundamental help of Washington FilmWorks which helped with funding assistance by giving filmmakers 30% cash back on the qualified in-state spend. That means when they spend money on Washington state residents or rent or buy anything from a Washington state business or person they get 30% cash back on those expenses. So the filmmakers get the money back after they spend it.

"The biggest expense is still labor but they manage to make a lot of movies on a micro budget here in Seattle."

White Center served as a "stand-in" for somewhere in New Mexico because it offered the right mix of buildings, look and access.

The crew shot in the evening and through the night near 98th Street s.w. and along 16th Ave. s.w. with the assistance of the King County Sheriff's who blocked the street allowing camera cars and a crane to be used to get the necessary shots. It was chosen by the film's location manager, Dave Drummond.

This meant that the local people who normally walk or drive down 16th had to use an alternative route, making traffic on 15th s.w. very heavy during the shutdown. The deputies kept an eye on things, crew members kept the 'Looky-lous' at bay and filming wrapped up around 5:00 am.

The film finishes shooting tonight Sept. 10 and the current plan is to complete the editing and music scoring and other work, taking it to the Sundance film festival in hopes of finding a distributor.

The production company coordinated with King County and the White Center Community Development Association regarding the parking and traffic revisions.